Since Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys for$ 150 million in 1989, the team has developed the best economic system in team sports. America’s Team articles the NFL’s highest funding, advanced furniture and goods profits year after year. Los Angeles Rams, the next-highest-grossing franchise, had a revenue of almost$ 800 million in fiscal year, which was twice as much. The Cowboys are the first sports staff with a$ 10 billion budget.
Dallas, which has lost six of its first nine games and has a bleak outlook for the rest of the year as a result of quarterback Dak Prescott having hamstring surgery on Wednesday, cannot be helped by the enormous wealth gap, which ca n’t help it play football this year.
In 2024, the Cowboys are not the only powerful leagues struggling. Six of the eight highest-revenue groups have losing files, with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles the exclusions.

So far this year, the Cowboys have produced one win for every$ 266 million of 2023 local revenue. The New York Giants ( one win per$ 163 million ), Las Vegas Raiders ($ 151 million ) and New England Patriots ($ 115 million ) have also not had the on-field results to match their financial heft. In contrast, groups with below-average earnings have six of the seven best records this time. The Buffalo Bills ($ 19 million ), Detroit Lions ($ 20 million ) and Kansas City Chiefs ($ 22 million ) have all racked up wins relative to their revenue.
Groups can compete on an identical standing thanks to the NFL’s financial system, which allows team aged one through 32. More than$ 400 million in equally shared league revenue was generated largely as a result of its blockbuster TV deals. No group needs to sacrifice signing people due to cash flow factors, as the group search more than covered the$ 225 million salary cover.
The NFL unit stands in sharp contrast to MLB, which featured the club’s two fiscal titan, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, in the World Series. There is no cap on the pay for major purchases, and MLB main revenue is one-quarter of what it is in the NFL. This year, the Yankees, Dodgers, and New York Mets all had leisure tax payments that far exceeded the entire 2023 profit for the entire team.
Some of the financial gaps are closed by revenue sharing, and some low-revenue groups, like the Cleveland Guardians, Kansas City Royals, and Detroit Tigers in 2024, do so annually. But wealth really matters in sports. Of the top 12 groups by profits, only two had losing data, including the San Francisco Giants at 80-82 and Texas Rangers at 78-84 clean off their 2023 World Series title.
MLB is more like the Premier League, where the Big Six may flex their economic leverage, which makes them almost relegable and more financially successful than team at the bottom of the EPL financial picture.
In the NFL, all is a success off the area. The least valuable NFL team ( Cincinnati Bengals ) is worth$ 4.7 billion, and every team earned more than$ 70 million in operating profit last year. All 32 NFL teams rank among the country’s 50 most important activities companies.